AHMEDABAD: With travel restrictions still in place and a growing number of universities offering only online education, fewer students are now opting to study abroad as compared to the pre-pandemic times. Uptakes for education loans across banks in Gujarat have remained low since the pandemic broke out.
The latest report of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) states that education loan disbursals in Gujarat stood at Rs 158 crore in the first quarter of 2021-22. Even though the disbursals surged 11.2% against Rs 142 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2020-21 — during which a nationwide lockdown was announced — it remained significantly low against the pre-pandemic times.
According to the SLBC data, education loan disbursals in the June quarter of 2019-20 stood at Rs 490 crore. This means in the same quarter of the current financial year, the disbursals have declined 67.7% over a two-year period.
“A large chunk of education loan disbursals comes from students going to pursue higher education abroad,” said a well-placed source in the SLBC. “However, because of Covid-19, the number of students opting for foreign studies declined drastically due to restrictions in various countries.” The source added: “Moreover, unavailability of direct flights was also a reason why many students deferred foreign education plans, which dented loan uptakes.”
According to bankers, the severe second wave was one of the key deterrents for those planning to study abroad. As compared to last year, the trend of students going abroad has improved. However, it is not as buoyant as in the pre-pandemic period.
“We expect normalcy in another year’s time, by next year’s fall season. This year, more students opted for studies in the US and even in countries such as Australia and Canada, which have opened up for foreign students,” said Hitesh Devaliya, the director of a training institute in Ahmedabad. “As direct flights resume and the Covid-19 situation improves and norms are eased by more countries, uptakes for studying abroad will certainly go up.”
